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HELENIUS INJURED

When Robert Helenius beat Dereck Chisora early December in Helsinki to win the vacant EBU title on a disputed decision much of the Nordic Nightmare´s at times passive perfomance was blamed on the injury to the right hand he got in the first round.

However, nothing was said about the right shoulder which Robert injured six weeks before the fight. The advice from a doctor then was to rest for two months but Helenius and Team Sauerland choose to continue training and the injury got worse and it´s now said that a tendon is ruptured and there´s an injury to the collarbone as well.

Today in Rome there would have been purse bids for Helenius vs Dimitrenko but instead the soon-to-be former EBU heavyweight champ awaits surgery on Thursday and will be out of the ring for at least six months - and the doctors have even hinted that the shoulder never may get well enough for boxing.

-That I will lose the title doesn´t matter, says Robert to Hufvudstadsbladet, the most important thing is that the shoulder heals up and that I can continue my career. I feel an enourmous motivation to continue with boxing.

As for the vacant EBU title it seems like Robert´s stablemate Kubrat Pulev gets a lucky break and is likely to be named mandatory challenger but if it will be against Alexander Dimitrenko - also sidelined with an injury - or someone else appears to be an open question.

Helenius, highly ranked by all the major bodies, also holds the WBA and WBO I/C titles.